NATALIA KHOMA

Internationally Renowned Cellist

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NATALIA KHOMA

Internationally Renowned Cellist

Biography

Natalia Khoma is an internationally renowned cellist. Since winning the All-Ukrainian competition, Khoma has won top prizes at the Budapest Pablo Casals International Competition, Markneukirchen Competition in Germany, and the Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow, as well as First prize at the Belgrade International Cello Competition.

A native of Lviv, Ukraine, Ms. Khoma studied for eight years at the Moscow Conservatory and in the United States, received an Artist Diploma from Boston University. The first and only Ukrainian cellist to become a laureate of the Tchaikovsky Competition, Natalia Khoma has since distinguished herself as a recitalist and soloist with orchestras throughout Russia, as well as the U.S., Canada, South America, Germany, Norway, Belgium, Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland, Eastern Europe, South Africa and the Middle and Far East. She has performed as a soloist with such leading ensembles as the Berlin Radio Orchestra, Moscow Radio Orchestra, Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra, Ukrainian National State Symphony Orchestra, Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Chamber Ensemble of New York City Symphony Orchestra, Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra and has had solo recitals in Tchaikovsky Hall (Moscow), Carnegie Hall (New York), Jordan Hall (Boston), Schauspielhaus (Berlin), Palais des Beux Arts (Brussels), Amphitheatre Richelieu de la Sorbonne, Salons de Boffrand de la Presidence du Senat (Paris), Philharmonic Big Hall of Columns (Kyiv) and in a host of countries across the globe.

She is often invited to appear at international festivals in Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Canada, Ukraine and the U.S. among others. Natalia Khoma has been hailed around the world as “technically dazzling”, “intense, brilliant, and with perfect structure”. She also has been praised for “the precision of her executions, Slavic Zen, full warm cello tone….and, what a drive!” Natalia made her first public appearance on TV at age ten and performed her first concerto with orchestra at age thirteen. Ms. Khoma has been a Professor at the Lviv Conservatory in Ukraine, Roosevelt University College of Music in Chicago, Michigan State University and was a visiting Professor of the University of Connecticut School of Music. In 2010 Natalia was featured on a Grammy nominated CD for the Dorian Sono Luminus label. She has also recorded for NHK-TV (Japan), Naxos, TNC/Cambria, Blue Griffin, IMP, Dorian, Centaur and Ongaku labels, as well as for Ukrainian, Russian, German, Spanish, Serbian, Israeli and Hungarian Radio and Television and has appeared on WNYC-FM in New York, WGBH-FM in Boston and CKWR in Ontario (Canada).

Natalia Khoma is an Honorary Professor of Lviv State Academy of Music, Odesa State Music Academy and Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine (Kyiv Conservatory). For several years she played on famous Stradivarius cello.

In 2011 she was appointed Artistic Advisor of the Music and Art Center of Greene County, New York. Natalia serves as organizer of the Children and Music Foundation, which provides musical training, instruments and financial aid to young, gifted Ukrainian students in need.

In addition to her performing activities, Natalia is an Associate Professor of cello at the College of Charleston in Charleston, SC and Director of the Charleston Music Fest.

Columbia Artists

The National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine

Columbia Artists

The National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine

The National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine

About

Formed by the Council of Ministers of Ukraine in November of 1918, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine is considered to be one of the finest symphony orchestras in Eastern Europe. Its first conductor was Oleksander Horilyj. Natan Rachlin was the Artistic Director of the Orchestra from 1937 until 1962. Stefan Turchak, Volodymyr Kozhuchar, Fedir Hlushchenko, and Igor Blazhkov consequently conducted the Orchestra as its Principal Conductors. Other conductors who worked with the NSOU include Leopold Stokowski, Igor Markevitch, Kurt Sanderling, Evgeny Mravinsky, Kiril . . .

Khoma – Vynnytsky Duo

Khoma – Vynnytsky Duo

Natalia Khoma – Volodymyr Vynnytsky Duo is the unique team of two virtuoso soloists from the same city and with a similar background. Both were born in Lviv, Ukraine, studied at the prestigious Moscow Conservatory, are International Competitions winners. Each has a distinguished career as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician, and has appeared individually and as a Duo with major orchestras and premier chamber music series through the United States and Europe. With performances which have been hailed around the world as “most excellent”, “perfectly controlled and beautifully expressive”, “magical…deeply touching”, “with virtuosity and admirable feeling”, “passion, profundity and poignancy”,”cellist pianist solo soulmates”, the Duo is one of the most electrifying musical partnerships.

Reviews

Reviews

Reviews

“Khoma possesses a large and very articulate sound…Finest playing.” The Strad

“ Khoma plays with masterful authority. Her bow arm is natural, relaxed and fluid, her left hand technique effortless and utterly secure. Her tone is dark, focused and pure. The playing was perfectly controlled and beautifully expressive. …Magical and deeply touching…” Edith Eisler, New York Concert Review

"Natalia Khoma performed the Haydn D Major concerto with intensity, great inner concentration and obvious power of performance. There is no doubt that Natalia Khoma will rank among the best cellists of her country." Neues Deutchland, Berlin

"Natalia Khoma is a great, young musician.....From the first down-stroke of her bow in Rachmaninoff's beautiful Vocalise, it became apparent that here there would not be much to criticize. A full, warm, cello tone with everything else in addition which words cannot describe. A singing Vocalise, beautiful without being sentimental. And, what a drive!" Drammen Library, Oslo

"The musical and technical quality of her performance was superb; she achieved everything she set out to achieve which was to be accurate, to play with intensity and brilliance and with perfect structure.....She epitomized the tradition of the Russian school of excellence; technically dazzling and a performance imbued with feeling." Forte, Geneva

"While she plays she exists at a level untouched by conscious aesthetic or technical consideration."..."Immersed in play, her tone is vibrant and strong."..."It's a redundancy to add that Khoma's intonation is impeccable, and the precision of her executions, Slavik Zen." Woodstock Times- Hunter, New York

"Natalia Khoma is a talented musician with brilliant performing individuality. She is a mature cellist who plays with great enthusiasm and confidence." Professor Natalia Shakhovskaya

"Natalia Khoma is a new name on the list of the brilliant young cellists of this country. Her talent grows with dynamic maturity. I have no doubt that we will soon hear of her many successes." Daniel Shafran

"Khoma played as if the instrument were an extension of her soul, intensely involved with the spirit of the music in her mind. Natalia's involvement with the music and her instrument was just transforming. She played with tremendous fire and passion. The combination of passion and expert-playing was amazing. This live music was exquisite." On Island, Nantucket

" Khoma is an exceptional performer..." Anchorage Daily News

"...The audience could recognize a great interpreter - the Ukrainian cellist Natalia Khoma... When it was over ( Haydn's C major cello concerto ), the audience had already fallen in love with the soloist, applauding without stop. After all, the young beauty prevailed as she was a master, who can dominate anything with the power of her music..." Punt Diavi, Spain

"...Performance full of vitality, fluency and virtuosity. ...Temperamental and sensitive." Avui, Spain

" Natalia Khoma played with unshakable authority from note one of Friday night's concert. ...Number of listeners witnessed her seemingly endless array of stylistic colors......Khoma breezed through the staggering alternations between technical extremes in the cello part, particularly in the second Allegro, as though they were mere nothings." Noelle Hahn, Anchorage Daily News

" Natalia Khoma...played Sunday with a passionate intensity and big sound, her lower notes nearly causing a seismic event. The audience was delighted by the performance, giving the artist a standing ovation." Shana Loshbaugh, Homer News

“The strength of the playing lies in Natalia Khoma’s sense of drama and attention to timbre.” Ken Smith, “Gramophone”

“ Natalia Khoma has a perfectly natural way of playing without a hint of theatrics. She is the ideal transmitter of the composer’s thoughts to the audience. In her playing she never strikes a pose, but precisely by her introspective simplicity she manages to reach into the essence of things. Because, in a very personal way, she can also communicate to the world at large what she has discovered in the music, listening to her becomes participation and shared experience.” Nardo Henriquez, "Willemstad News”

“The highlight of the concert, the Tchaikovsky, with Khoma as soloist, wowed the audience. Khoma’s technical ease and soaring, penetrating sound, reverberating in the Great Hall as she exposed Tchaikovsky’s Russian melodies expressive of his declared love of the Russian landscape.” M. Ionescu, “State News”

“We have attended and enjoyed all varieties of concerts in Charleston – the choirs, the orchestras, the pianos, Spoleto, etc. – and the college concert we heard Sunday was the best chamber music concert we have heard in Charleston. When Natalia Khoma played, one could see her love for the notes. She played thousands of notes and never missed one.” Kay Wheeler, Charleston “ The Post and Courier”

"Khoma is an extremely skillful cellist, revealing all of the subtle and burnished aspects of her instrument and Rachmaninoff’s music. Reflecting incredible technique and deep musical understanding, Vynnytsky is as masterly a keyboard artist as you will ever hope to find." William Furtwangler, “Post and Courier”, June 2006, Charleston

"Cellist/Pianist solo soulmates." Die Beeld

”Without doubt Khoma and Vynnytsky are soloists in their own right, but their individual qualities are slightly set aside when they make music together: surely soulmates, firm and stylish in their approach to Beethoven, Chopin, Shostakovich and Cassado.”

”… global perception of the music… “

“…the balance was perfect…”

“More one cannot ask from this predominantly lyrical rendering.”

“Their performance of Vynnytsky's highly flamboyant exciting composition entitled Tango was a splendid conclusion for a performance of manifold musical planning. It was 4 studied interpretations from which spontaneity shines as result of secure playing and expertise feel for the nature of ensemble playing." Thys Odendaal. “Die Beeld”, August 2006, Pretoria, South Africa

“The Khoma-Vynnytsky duo epitomizes elegance of execution, virtuosic technique, a sense of internal drama, and the merging of two artists playing as one.” Dzerkalo Tyzhnya , Kyiv, No. 39, 14-20 October 2006

“Here is a program of cello music with the concept that works! Altogether, this is satisfying programming with fine playing, clean technique combined with warmth of feeling.” D. Moore, American Record Guide, June 2007

Review/ Bach Cello Suites.“A deeply emotional yet meticulously precise reading, full of fire, that transcended the barriers of music , musician, and audience”.

“Ah, the Gigue! A spiraling cascade that encompassed the entire range of emotion in the suite and served ample justification to Khoma’s fiery and emotional approach.”

“The prelude brought out its cries of joy and pain while Ms. Khoma’s fluid and precise dynamic control showed a meticulous attention to detail; as well as an intimate knowledge and deep love of this work. The Sarabande was a spellbinding return to the second suite’s theme of longing, with a backdrop of pure and deep love. This suite’s Gigue keeps one guessing, even though the resolution is inevitable and absolute On this day, it was over far too soon for these humble ears. The audience agreed, and within seconds were on their feet.” Robert Bondurann, “City Paper”, Charleston, May 2007

“The song-like Andante was as sublime as one expects human playing ever to be.” George Hubbard, “Post and Courier”, April 2008, Charleston

“Allegro assai, a jocund movement that skips and laughs at the end of each phrase, showing off the dark, warm, and cream-like tone cellist Natalia Khoma effortlessly creates.” Robert Bondurann, “City Paper”, Charleston, May 2008

"With Technique to burn..."

“A chamber music stunner…

"Khoma and Vynnytsky intuitively performed the cello sonata (Dmitri Schostakovich)—a monumental work, symphonic in proportions—with lyrical sections offset with angst-ridden, eerie, and despairing episodes. With instrumental technique to burn, this duo recreated the drama and typical sarcastic comments that Shostakovich interjected in his most serious works…"

"Khoma’s intense cello playing brought out her instrument’s warm qualities as well as its eerie and unsettling sounds. Her powerful attacks were devastating…"

"The audience gave the artists two standing ovations, one for the sonata and one for the trio. Khoma, Berlinsky, and Vynnytsky focused on this music as few others do. “ William Furtwangler, Charleston Today

Grammy Comes to Charleston. (Charleston, SC, March 9, 2011)“Regnier performs all of the album's guitar solo pieces. World-renowned cellist and fellow CofC professor Natalia Khoma collaborated in a chamber sonata for cello and guitar. The album was recorded at the fabled Skywalker Sound Studios north of San Francisco at the ranch that houses media mogul George Lucas' digs. Regnier described his excitement upon getting the news: " My producers verified that indeed, we had been nominated for a Grammy in one of the toughest categories, and in a year when the Recording Academy received more Grammy entries than ever before." Lindsay Koob, “City Paper”, Charleston, December 2010

"Rare and Well Done."

“Marc Regnier, along with flautist Tacy Edwards, fellow guitarist Marco Sartor and, especially, cellist Natalia Khoma, has produced a collection of solo and duo music that is both harmonically complex and emotionally rewarding and gives evidence of the considerable instrumental virtuosity of each musician involved. This album deserves the highest possible recommendation, on a scale of 10, an unequivocal 10.” Anta

July, 2011 AAA Classical Reviews, Audio Video Club Of Atlanta. “Ukrainian­born cellist Natalia Khoma, with Swiss pianist Adrian Oetiker as her partner, presents moving accounts of sonatas by Shostakovich and Brahms. Both works have abundant amounts of lyrical beauty, which these artists express to perfection. Both are studies in contrast in which the expressive element chisels against sharply defined forms to produce something of immensely greater value."

"Glorious!” Oscar O. Veterano, October 26, 2010

Phil’s Classical Reviews, July 2011 “Yes, this Monday Night concert was about the music…But it was the musicians, cellist Natalia Khoma and pianist Volodymyr Vynnytsky, who left us dazzled and on our feet. Charleston, we are lucky to have these two in our midst. Natalia and Volodymyr hold nothing back on stage. Every drop of their inspiration, artistry, and pleasure gets handed to the audience in dramatic fashion. During the performance, I kept thinking of superlatives—lots of them. It was a visceral experience simply because their passion—nay, their hunger for—playing music is so palpable and infectious. Natalia unforgivingly commands the cello to give her every bit of nuance and sound that it can muster. She engulfs the instrument, leans on it, and somehow puts it under a spell so that it becomes her own heart and soul uttering all manner of emotion. She literally tears into it, pulls sound of it, sways with it, and forgets about the audience as she launches into a pulsation of feeling that immediately draws the listener in. You want to go on this fantastic journey with her and you trust her at every step. The long and short of it is that you never want to miss a chance to see these two perform. And I, for one, am going to seek out a copy of their CD that includes many of the same pieces that we heard last night.” Peter Ingle, Charleston Today.net; April 5, 2011

“Khoma is remarkably effective in sustaining different sounds on her cello, giving each new phrase a different character. The dynamic range is wide… giving the Schostakovich an occasionally shocking intensity. Clarity is remarkable in both recordings. These are immediate… sensitive recordings, unusual… brilliant performances.” D. Moore, American Record Guide , January/February 2012 “Bach cello suites get virtuoso treatment”

“Her interpretations were rich and colorful. Her skill resulted in an expressive performance – layered, dynamic and flexible."